BattleTanx II Bursts Onto PlayStation

3DO is in the works with its crushing tank blaster for Sony's 32-bit wonder.

By IGN Staff

The 3DO Company is currently in negotiations with Sony to bring its fun-loving, teddy-bear stomping BattleTanx to the PlayStation, IGNPSX found out yesterday from a reliable industry source.

Based on BattleTanx II, currently in the works for the Nintendo 64, BattleTanx II: Global Assault for the PlayStation is slated for a late 1999 release, ideally December, but it may slip into first quarter 2000, the source said. Not surprisingly, when we called 3DO, the representative made no comment about any PlayStation version of BattleTanx, and would not venture to about its future on PlayStation.

With a few exceptions, The Nintendo 64 version provides a good blueprint for the upcoming PlayStation version. In it, gamers can choose from 11 different tanks and six different play modes, including death matches (probably two-player on PS).

Much like Namco's arcade game Tokyo Wars, the idea in BattleTanx is to blow everything up and reduce it to rubble, buildings, tanks, entire cities, whatever gets in the way. For this, players are rewarded with more power-ups and weapons with which to take out the enemy tanks or forces. Battles take place in recognizable international cities such as Washington, Paris, London and Berlin, so for those of you who have never been, you can destroy them before you actually go. Ha! In N64 sequel, the graphics are far more visually attractive and the game moves much faster than its predecessor. Hopefully all of these qualities will surface immaculately on the PlayStation version.

The story is not pure literature, but it provides a great backdrop to the post-apocalyptic world in which tanks rule the earth. In the year 2002 the world has turned into a diseased clan-divided wastelands. As the human race struggles to rebuild society, a young boy who possesses rare telekinetic abilities holds the key to a better world. However, an evil QueenLord wants this boy's powers for her own so that she may destroy what is left of civilization. Using a variety of tanks and weapons, players must rescue this powerful child from the hands of evil and deliver him into the safe arms of the allies. Only then can peace be restored upon the land.

Keep an eye out for BattleTanx II: Global Assault for this Christmas. For more 3DO games, click on the below related links, or for another Tank-based game on the PlayStation, check out Tiny Tanks, by Andnow.